Continuous learning systems: postal address readers with built-in learning capability

While current postal address readers have been adapted and fine tuned once and off-line in a central development lab, the concept of next generation readers presented here will contain a built-in learning capability which can be referred to as continuous learning from letters. This will be performed on different levels of reading and comprehension, enabling the system to adapt itself to slow changes of mail mix and writing conventions. Preconditions of an adaptive reading system are discussed and an outline of such a system is given, which not only keeps track, with the slow changes of input, but also optimizes itself to sire specific conditions, thus guaranteeing an optimal solution at each site and at any time within life cycle. The system presented here is funded by BMBF (German Federal Ministry of Education and Research) within the projects READ and ADAPTIVE READ